Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Boosts Stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,611 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,869 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $14,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Johnson & Johnson in the third quarter worth $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 58.7% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson & Johnson in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JNJ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Johnson & Johnson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $156.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Johnson & Johnson from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.94.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JNJ opened at $154.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $372.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.39. Johnson & Johnson has a 12 month low of $143.13 and a 12 month high of $168.85.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $22.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.17 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 35.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.66 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Johnson & Johnson will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $1.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Johnson & Johnson’s payout ratio is 71.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 5,635 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.06, for a total transaction of $930,113.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,131,683.38. This represents a 22.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Johnson & Johnson Company Profile

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.